


Fire needs a space to burn.

by niallsayswhaat



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: AU, Anal Sex, Dirty Talk, Dom/sub, Fingering, Fluff, Light Bondage, M/M, Smut, dom!Louis, idk it's really smutty at one point okay, sub!Harry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-28
Updated: 2015-03-21
Packaged: 2018-02-19 02:16:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2370752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/niallsayswhaat/pseuds/niallsayswhaat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis feels alive every time he sees his name on the news or his picture on the paper. He likes it when he senses the fear on people's eyes when they see him, he feels the adrenaline rushing through his veins, remembering him this is what he was born for. This is his thing.  He is a goddamn criminal who has an obsession with fire. </p><p>- OR -</p><p>Louis Tomlinson and his partner in crime, Zayn Malik, are the most wanted criminals of the moment. Super rich Niall Horan is their new target. Everything is going fine until Harry Styles gets in the way. And Louis may or may not let him live.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my second work here and i did it to fill up a prompt. It was supposed to be a one shot but i wanted to be really good so it's gonna be 3-4 chapters long. There isn't any porn/smut in this chapter, but it will be in the next ones!
> 
> Prompt: "Louis/Harry best friends as kids. Louis whole family dies in fire one night he was sleeping at Harrys. Louis has to move with his gran far away new school he's bullied and hates life! Fastfoward to now Louis is on the most wanted criminal list along with zayn/liam his best friends. there next target to rob/kill the rich niall who happens to be best friends with harry. during the task l/h are reunited. l still loves h and lets him live. smut/fluff etc! thanx"
> 
> I did a little change to it, but it's still pretty much the same! Thanks to the lovely anon who sent me that prompt, i hope you like this <3.  
> Thanks again to my lovely beta Emma (@blouevelvet on twitter) for helping me out with this fic, you're awesome as always.  
> Enjoy!

"Look at this shit.” Louis tosses the newspaper onto the small table in front of where Zayn is sitting. He grabs a chair for himself and sits down with one leg on each side, straddling it. "Read the headline."  
  
Zayn raises his eyes, not paying attention to the TV he had been previously watching. He doesn't even need to look at Louis, he has been with him for too long and can tell by the tone of his voice, he is pissed. Zayn grabs the paper from the table, holding it still in his hands to read the headline.  
  
"Louis Tomlinson, most wanted criminal of the moment, has managed to escape from the claws of justice one more time. This last Friday, he got away once again after the police chased him for an hour, but lost sight of him.” Zayn reads, his eyebrows raising up on his forehead. He looks at Louis for a second and returns to his reading. "Some people say he is still staying in London, where he was last seen, but we don't know for sure. The only thing we know is that the most wanted criminal and his partner in crime, Zayn Malik, are most likely planning to kidnap Liam Payne, the famous song writer."  
  
Louis lets out a dry, sarcastic laugh, tipping the back of his chair until it seems like he is about to fall onto the floor.  
  
"Can you believe that shit?" he asks, his voice more high-pitched than usual. "They actually think we’re going after Liam."  
  
Louis laughs again, dropping to sit down normally on his chair and flicks his long, chestnut hair with his hands. It's unbelievable really, how the media can't even get their facts straight. It's true, he went to a club last Friday, but only because he was bored of being trapped in tiny motel rooms and really weird places. He wanted to be able to actually see the world! He knew he wasn't supposed to go out, considering him and Zayn are the most wanted criminals of the moment, a title both him and his partner are happy to hold, but he went out anyway. He made sure no one saw him, at least nobody that could put him in jail. Everything went pretty good for about an hour or two until it all went to hell.  
The boy he was flirting with recognized him and started yelling like a maniac. Soon enough Louis was running away from a couple of cops who were chasing him. Luckily, he never went out without examining the area first, so he was able to get out without being seen.  
So yeah, the media got that part of their headline straight, but not the part about the two of them planning to kidnap Liam, and that bothered the hell out of Louis.  
  
You see, Zayn and Louis were planning this for about a month now. They weren’t going to kidnap Liam, they were going for the big fish, Niall Horan. They wanted to make it huge, which is the main reason neither of them went out in public for a long time. They were making sure their whole plan was gonna work, keeping an eye on Niall for two whole weeks, memorizing his routine and planning how they were gonna get him. Niall Horan is one of the richest men in Europe, if not the world, and he's only 23, which makes him reckless and an easy target to get. He was perfect for the plan. They were going to kidnap him, torture him a little bit, take all his money, and kill him. The usual. They wanted to make it known, make it obvious to everyone that they were going after Niall James Horan, so the whole world could be shocked when the two of them fooled the police and got what they wanted.  
It was gonna be a hell of a highlight to their careers, but now the media was totally ruining it.

 

 

Zayn shakes his head, turning his eyes back to the TV. "So what if they think so? It's gonna be easier for us to take Niall away."  
  
"You don't get it, do you?" Louis smiles, his bright, white teeth forming a wicked smile on his face. "I don't want this to be easy, I want everyone in this fucked up world to talk about us, to know who we are, _to fear us_."  
  
"I'm pretty sure they already do, Lou.” Zayn turns off the TV, scratching his eyes with the backs of his hands before standing up, pointing at the newspaper on the table. "Everyone in London already knows our names, so let's take this the good way, yeah?" He pats Louis' shoulder, already walking out of the room. "By this time tomorrow, we'll have Niall and every headline of every paper will have our names, so just rest a little, we have a big day coming up."  
  
Louis just sighs, dropping his head in his hands and letting it rest there. "Yeah, all right, have a good night."  
  
He hears Zayn close the door of the living room they're sharing for today, he knows he should listen to him and go to sleep now and actually get some rest for the night, but he just can't. There's something inside of him that's making him feel uneasy, kinda nervous, and he’s never felt this way before.  
  
Louis is used to his life of criminal activity and villain stereotype, he loves it. There hasn't been a day since this all started that he has regretted something. He is a criminal, yes, a very dangerous one. He’s the type of guy your parents would talk about during dinner, warning their kids about, but Louis is proud of who he is. He likes how people fear him, how they even show respect when they see him for the first time face to face. It gives him power, something he never had before in his entire life.

 

 

Something he never had as a kid, at least.  
  
He doesn’t think too much about his past, it being something he doesn't like to do. However, sometimes the memories just come back without a warning, hitting him right in the face to remind him why he started all this, because all criminals, all famous felons, have a background.  
  
The reason Louis is now the most dangerous criminal, who is known for his passion for fire, started when he was 10 years old.   
Exactly 15 years ago.

-

_He was staying the night with his best friend, Harry. He had begged his mum to let him stay the night, because it was Halloween and he and Harry had the whole night planned. They were gonna watch scary movies and eat lots of popcorn and candy until they passed out from the sugar and excitement._   
_His mum wasn't too fond of the idea. This would be the first time Louis’d stay out the whole night and she didn't think he was ready just yet. However, Louis was so persistent that she finally called Anne, Harry's mum, and asked her if this whole idea was okay with her because she didn't wanted to bother the woman._   
_Anne said it was totally fine, so there he was, standing in the doorway, his sleeping bag under his arm and backpack hanging from one shoulder. His mum's hand was pressed firmly on the other shoulder, waiting for Anne to open the door._   
  
_"Hi, sweetie, come in.” Anne was tall and had dark brown hair like Harry’s. She smiled at Louis first before moving to greet his mum. "Don't worry, Jay, he'll be fine."_   
  
_Jay signed, giving Louis a sweet kiss on the cheek. Louis tried to brush it off, but his mum didn't let him. "I know, I know, I'm just a little bit emotional, that's all," she said, giving Louis a little push on the back. "Have fun baby, I'll see you in the morning, okay?"_   
  
_Louis murmured a quick "okay mum, I love you" as he entered the Styles' house, staying very still in the hallway, not sure what to do while his mum and Anne finished talking. He just stood there for about a minute, wondering where Harry was when Anne shut the door and gave him a warm smile._   
  
_"Harry is in his room upstairs, he said he wanted to prepare everything.” She stopped at the bottom of the stairs, raising her voice "Harry, love, Louis is here!" They both waited but they got not answer from Harry so Anne just nodded, pointing up. "Go on, it's the first door on the right, I'll be here if any of you need me, okay?"_   
  
_Louis nodded, smiling again this time with more confidence because Harry's mum was being really nice to him. "Yeah, thank you ma’am.“_   
  
_He went upstairs, making sure his bag wouldn't slip from his arms and almost tripped on his way to Harry's room. He could tell just by the little part of the house he had seen, it was really big. Louis lived in a smaller place a couple streets down. It was nice because only he and his parents lived there and he had his own room, he never really complained, but Harry's house was much bigger and prettier. He liked it._   
_Louis didn't knock on Harry's door, he simply entered, tripping the minute he did, falling to the floor._

_"Louis!" Harry exclaimed between the laugh he was trying to repress. He quickly got up from his spot on the floor, helping his friend up. "Are you okay? Why didn't you knock?"_   
  
_Louis stood up, shaking off his shoulders. "What's all this?" He asked instead of actually answering, looking around._   
  
_Harry's room was full of pillows, sheets and some cushions, all of them around the floor. He’d also closed the windows and pulled his curtains together so the room would be darker and he put on scary lights in shape of skeletons and pumpkins. It seemed like the spirit of Halloween was in there. Plus, there were bowls full of popcorn and candy next to the TV._   
_Harry smiled, obviously proud of what he did._   
  
_"I wanted everything to be spooky," he said, that big childish smile on his face. "Gemma helped me out a little to make the pillow fort, but I did the rest.” He turned around to look at Louis, his big, green eyes meeting Louis' blue ones. "Why? You don't like it? We can take the lights off and..."_   
  
_"Shut up," Louis cut him out, dropping his backpack to the floor along with his sleeping-bag and smiled. "I like it, it's okay."_   
  
_It was more than just okay, it was amazing. Louis couldn't believe Harry did all of this just because he was coming over. It made Louis' heart feel weird inside, in a good way though. He liked how Harry always worried about him. Harry was always nice to everyone, it came natural to him, like he couldn't be bad, it wasn't in his system to be that way. Every time Louis was around Harry, a little bit of that good came to him, calming him down._   
_So of course he liked all of this, it made his heart beat faster and his tummy feel funny, but it was fine. Suddenly he felt happy, Harry made him happy._   
_Harry smiled even bigger, hugging Louis out of nowhere._   
  
_"I'm glad you do," he said, and Louis could feel his curls tickling his cheek. "I bought a bunch of scary movies, you can pick the first one if you want, Lou."_   
  
_Louis took his shoes off, stepping into the pillow fort along with Harry. The sheets were above his head, covering everything and the cushions and pillows were soft under his feet. He felt like he was walking on a cloud. Both boys had to kneel down, crawling until they sat on a couple of pillows Gemma’d helped Harry bring into the room._   
_He grabbed the pack of movies Harry had bought for that night, giving them a slightly nervous look with a smile on his face._

 

_"Are you sure your mom lets you watch these?" Louis asked, pushing Harry’s shoulder. "You're too young for this."_   
  
_"I'm not!" Harry yelled back, taking the movies out of Louis' tiny hands. "I'm as old as you are."_   
  
_"But you're not, you're 2 years younger than me, Harry."_   
  
_Louis laughed when Harry furrowed his eyebrows. This age thing between them never bothered Louis, they were only two years apart and they were so much alike. They got along so well he didn't care he was ten and Harry was only eight years old, but Harry seemed to be annoyed every time Louis mentioned the age gap. He wanted to be ten, he wanted to be as cool as Louis. He looked up to him, so he didn't like being reminded that he was, in fact, younger than his best friend._   
_And not only younger, but so much more innocent._   
_Louis had this spark in him. He was loud since the moment he learned how to speak and loved to mess around, playing and laughing. Harry was so much more quiet than him, calm and peaceful. And he tried to be like his cool, older friend Louis, so sometimes he pretended he was ten, and not eight._   
  
_"Louis..." Harry started but Louis shook his head, taking the movies back in his hand._   
  
_"I'm joking, Haz,” Louis said and in the moment he smiled, Harry couldn't help but smile too. Louis picked up one movie from the rest and gave it to Harry. "Put that one in."_

 

 

-

 

 

If that night would have ended there, he probably wouldn't be where he is now. He wouldn't be the most dangerous criminal, the most wanted and half of the UK wouldn't be looking for him. This is why he doesn't like remembering the past. It makes him think about the time he was actually happy.  
  
Happiness is something he hasn't experienced since that night.  
  
Sure, he feels alive every time he sees his name on the news or his picture in the paper. He likes it when he senses the fear in people's eyes when they see him. And when he's in the middle of getting someone, or the few times the police almost caught him, he feels the adrenaline rushing throughout his veins, reminding him this is what he was born for. _This is his life_.  
Maybe it's not a good thing, he makes people suffer and takes advantage of it. He isn't dumb or crazy, he knows what he's doing. He knows this is illegal and he isn't any kind of savior. He is a goddamn criminal who has an obsession with fire. He is not playing to be something he isn't.  
  
He is proud to be what he is.  
  
The thing he is, he doesn't feel happy. He has felt the adrenaline, the rush, the emotion, he has felt like flying and touching the sky with his bare hands, but happiness refuses to come back to him. And if time would have stopped that night when they both fell asleep, Louis wouldn't be the criminal mind he is today.  
  
But time didn't freeze, and his world changed forever.

-

_They fell asleep after the third movie, in the middle of a horror scene none of them were really paying attention to. The bowl of popcorn was completely empty and there were candy wrappers all over the floor. Harry fell asleep on the floor, half of his body on the pillow and his legs spread on the sheets. Louis fell asleep with his head barely touching Harry's thigh and a hand wrapped around the tv remote. It was comfortable that way, so they didn't even bother to get out of the pillow fort and actually sleep in their sleeping bags. They were kids, it was all right._   
_So they both were on a cloud in their own world, resting quietly, when the door was pushed open. Louis could hear the steps into the room but his brain was still too sleepy to do something, so he just help onto the sheets, pretending he didn't hear anything. Or at least he tried, until a hand took off the roof of the pillow fort, exposing both Harry and him sleeping underneath._   
  
_"Louis, honey.” Anne slowly rocked him by the shoulders, smiling sweetly. "Wake up, please."_   
  
_He did as told, not questioning why Harry's mum waking him up so late in the night, just him and not Harry, too. Maybe it was already morning and his mum came to pick him up early. But the room was still dark and quiet when he opened his eyes, sitting down next to where his friend was still sleeping._   
  
_"Did I get in trouble?" Louis murmured, his childish voice still raspy from the sleep._   
  
_"No, no, sweetie," Harry's mum assured him, keeping that sweet tone of voice she used every time she spoke to him, but there was something odd, something off about it this time. "Can you come out just a minute?"_   
  
_He looked up to Anne, trying to figure out what was happening, why was she waking him up while Harry kept sleeping? He couldn't really see anything from where he was sitting in the dark room so he just stood up, being careful not to step on Harry and followed Anne to the hallway. In contrast with Harry's room, the rest of the house had every light on. The hallway was perfectly lighted, causing him to shut his eyes close for a second because it was hurting him. When he opened them again, willing to ask what was happening, he saw Harry's mum crying._   
_He didn't notice back in the room, but her eyes where puffy and red and her cheeks were wet. She tried to stop crying, probably not to make him feel bad, but she couldn't, the tears just kept coming from her eyes and soon Louis started to worry._   
  
_"Are you okay?" he asked, touching her arm soothingly. “Did something happen?"_   
  
_Anne shook her head, quickly wiping the tears away. She crouched down until she reached Louis' height, her face close to his. Louis noticed she and Harry were very much alike, they both had those kind smiles on their faces and little wrinkles by their eyes whenever they smiled, even though the smile Harry's mum was giving him right now seemed wrong. Everything suddenly seemed wrong to him._   
  
_Her hands grabbed him by the shoulders, softly running her thumb over the cloth of his pajama shirt, like she was trying to calm him. "I'm so sorry Louis, so sorry. I didn't want to wake you up like this, but you need to know, you need to..." Her voice broke, interrupted by the tears._

 

_"What's happening?" Louis murmured. His heart was beating like crazy and his mind was trying so bad to understand everything, but he just couldn’t._   
  
_"There was an accident, Louis," she said, struggling to talk through the lump in her throat. "The fire spread around your whole house and your parents... Oh, Louis, I'm sorry so sorry..."_

_Anne couldn't tell him, but the cops sure did. He found out his entire house was caught in a fire due to a gas leak in the kitchen that took off the entire place along with the lives of his parents. Louis was left without a real family at the age of ten. He didn't get the impact of that night until a month later, after he was forced to move out and live with his grandma almost five hours away and had to start at a new school. Living with his grandma wasn't that bad, to be honest, his grandma was a nice woman who always tried to do the best for him. But she was too old and Louis was too damaged already to be taken cared of. His mind was already broken and there was nothing his grandma could do. And to make things worse, school didn't help at all._   
_Louis was known as the new kid with no parents. You would think people, especially kids his age, would be kind to someone who had just lost their parents in a terrible fire, but the truth is, kids are cruel and have no sympathy for the ‘weird kid’. School was hell for Louis, he was constantly bullied and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't be normal like everyone else. There were days when the missed his old life so much he would lock himself up in his room and just cry. Those moments, where reality hit him like a truck, were the worst, and he kept having them until he was 14._   
_It took him a while, but one day, it just clicked. He realized he was a good person with a bad life, and he decided he shouldn't be ashamed of that, he should embrace it. And that's where it all started._

-

Louis shook his head, standing up from the little table and leaving the living room to enter the bedroom. He’d had enough for tonight, remembering the past sometimes can be good, but it should never distract him from the present.  
And the truth is, now is really important. He has the biggest mission of his life tomorrow and he needs to make sure he is ready for it, completely centered in the moment. So no, he can't lose himself in stupid memories anymore. He lost his parents, he lost his only friend, he is not gonna lose himself just hours before his big moment.  
So he walks to the second bed in the room and lets himself fall on it without even taking his clothes off. He has one thing on his mind and one thing only and that's making sure that by tomorrow, everyone in this fucked up world will know his name.


	2. Stay there and watch me burn.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louis and Zayn got everything ready. Until someone gets in the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! So, this is the second chapter, it took me a long time to go back to writing, but im still kinda proud of this whole mini-fic. Thank you for waiting this lon, i hope you like this one as much as the first one.  
> Again, thank you so much to my beta Emma (@blouvelvet on twitter) For being the most amazing beta ever and help me out with this chapter, love you xx.
> 
> I hope you like this chapter! Enjoy.

"Can you hear me?" Zayn's voice mumbles in Louis' ear for a moment, letting him know his earpiece is working perfectly.

 

"Loud and clear." Louis nods casually, keeping his eyes focused on the room ahead of him.

 

Zayn is all the way at the back door of the place, getting everything ready for when Louis tells him to go. Today is finally the day they are going to make their big step. It’s all or nothing, this is their chance to remind everyone how great robberies are supposed to be. He is tired of seeing wannabes on TV trying to imitate him and Zayn, so tonight, they are gonna blow things up. _Literally_.

 

Tonight, one of the biggest parties of the year is being thrown at the Horan's house. Everyone who was even remotely famous knew that his summer parties were like a tradition. They are big, loud, and full of pretentious people who loved to waste money. Basically, if you were well known, you had to be at the party. 

Louis and Zayn had planned for months, and everything was going smoothly. They had every entrance watched and they knew every single person invited to the party, who to avoid and who to get. They managed to get into the guest list without any problems. The night Louis has dreamed of for weeks was finally happening.

 

So while Zayn was in charge of keeping an eye on everything and making sure their way out was clear and ready for when Louis told him to run, Louis was inside the house all by himself. No one could tell he was a criminal, really.

The beauty of ignorance. None of those people worried enough to watch the news everyday, to find out they were among the most dangerous criminal in London right now. Oh, if they only knew Louis Tomlinson was right there.

 

But of course they don't know. They are so blinded by their own money and fame they can't tell him apart from everyone else in the damn mansion. And honestly, it's not like he could blame them. Louis looked stellar, like a Greek god, if he could say so himself. He put on a very fancy suit, all black with a matching tie and suspenders. He even managed to get his hair done into a perfect cinnamon roll twist. He had to admit he looked amazing, even for a criminal. None of the people there could tell he was the same pyromaniac that just yesterday was news all over the country.

He was actually very excited about all this. He was used to his job, to rob people, to kill people and set things on fire. He was in touch with his wild and dark side since that horrible night, but he has been losing that excitement. He has been feeling bored, almost. But tonight, this was bringing him back to live. He could feel his heart beating calmly, his palms steady and his eyes cold as ice. His body was ready for this.

 

"Did you see him yet?" Louis whispers, stepping into the big mansion. 

 

"I'm on it, I'll let you know when I find him,” Zayn says, and suddenly, his voice disappears from Louis' ear.

 

Louis nods, looking around to get familiar with the house. He had it studied in every way possible, photographs, maps, planes of the whole mansion. He probably knows every room, every bathroom, every corner of this place, but it was kinda nice seeing it with his own eyes for the first time. Everywhere he looked, there were people chatting, drinking, laughing, dancing, and luckily, no one focusing on him. 

It was rather boring, to be honest. He couldn't understand how people enjoy this boring parties instead of loud clubs, how people liked to pretend they were important for one night. The idea was ridiculous to him. But he had to pretend he was one of them, at least for now.

 

"I don't think I've ever seen you around here, darling," a tall brunette girls says, smiling directly and only to Louis. "Is this your first party?"

 

Louis wants to call her off because he doesn't have time to be fooling around with some girl who is clearly flirting with him when he could just slice her throat. But he has to do this, he has to play this game. 

So he smiles, moving towards her with a couple of glasses of champagne in his hands.

 

"That's because I never come to these parties," he replies, handing the drink to the woman. "I find them a little bit boring to be honest."

 

The brunette smiles, gulping a little bit of the drink down her throat before licking her lips seductively, eyes on Louis. If she only knew he was gay.

 

"Not the party guy, uh?" 

 

"I'm into more... Dangerous things, love.” He takes a slip of his drink, immediately putting the glass away afterwards. He doesn't need to get drunk.

 

This whole thing is already messing with his patience. He is a very inpatient man, likes things done quick, fast, and easy, and this was taking too damn long. The woman was still trying to flirt with him as if he was interested.

 

"Oh, I see. Parties are too normal for you, aren't they?" She says, moving her hair around to get his attention. "Maybe if you tell me your name, we could get out of here and do more dangerous things together."

 

Louis is about to laugh at her horrible attempt to get his name when Zayn's voice sounds in his ear again, taking all his attention to his words. "He is upstairs, in the second room, he is alone so you better hurry the fuck up." 

 

That's it, that's what it takes to get Louis back in the game. His eyes feel even more sharp when he looks up at the big staircase in the middle of the mansion. Everyone is down here and as far as he can see nobody is up there. It's a clear path waiting for him.

 

He looks at the woman one more time and when Louis smiles at her, she does it too, thinking she’s going to get what she wants, but her smiles fades away as soon as Louis says. "Maybe another time, love."

 

He can feel the anger pouring of the girl's body towards him as he slowly walks away, getting lost in the crowd of people surrounding him. All these celebrities are so worried about themselves no one even notices him going upstairs. 

He walks calmly, with his hands in his pockets as if nothing is happening. He wants to run into the room as soon as he steps onto the second floor, but he knows he has to take his time. He can't rush things now.

Louis walks straight to the first bathroom, closing the door behind him and taking off his coat as soon as he is alone and out of everyone's view.

 

"Is he still in the room?" He asks Zayn, quickly taking the miniature jar of gasoline he had with him the whole time.

 

Zayn takes no more than two seconds to answer him. "He is, are you ready?"

 

"I am," Louis answers, and gives two steps back, pouring the gasoline all over his coat on the floor. "Count to five when I tell you so, and push the button, got it?"

 

"Got it.”

 

Louis nods, taking the napkin with chloroform in and pushing in inside his back pocket. He takes a couple of steps back until his body is pressed agains the bathroom door and finally, he takes the matches out, he has one chance to do this, and he has to do it now. Louis lights the match, and throws it onto the floor. He is out of the bathroom before the match falls into the gasoline, but it's about matter of seconds when his coat catches on fire, and soon, he can see and smell the smoke coming from the bathroom door.

 

He lets himself feel the fire, listening to it burn everything in the bathroom until the fire alarm goes off.

 

“Now," he says, running to the door in front of him.

 

" _One_... _Two_..."

 

Louis gets in position, his hand making sure the napkin is still in his pocket and his gun secure. 

 

" _Three_..." Zayn keeps counting. Louis' heart is pounding and he can already hear the people screaming, confused, downstairs. " _Four_..."

 

The people down there never saw it coming.

 

" _Five_." 

 

And that's when everything goes to hell. His big moment is finally here. 

 

The whole place shakes with a big explosion coming from downstairs and is following by the unmistakable sound of flames creeping through the walls and people screaming. All the noise and confusion is enough to make Niall Horan come out of the room, still half dressed, with his tie hanging lazily from his neck and his jacket almost put on.

There he was, Louis' target was right in front of them, basically begging to be taken. And oh, it was gonna be so easy, everyone is gonna be wondering how he did it, how Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik got away with the biggest robbery of the fucking year.

 

So Louis takes the chloroform napkin in his hand and runs behind Niall. The blond boy doesn't even see it coming, they are so easy, so stupid, they never see it coming.

Niall's whole body tenses when Louis puts an arm around his neck, putting pressure to make him stay quiet while he shoves the napkin straight into Niall's nose and mouth, suffocating him with the chloroform. 

 

He loves this, the fear that invades his victims' bodies when they know what's about to come. Even when Louis can't properly see Niall's face, he feels it. He can feel Niall's body struggling to get out of his grip, his neck pulsing against his arms, his legs trying to run away. The fear, because he knows his life is in danger.

The fight only lasts a couple of seconds until Niall's entire body relaxes, his mind already gone, and his life is now on Louis' hands.

 

Everyone keeps screaming downstairs and Louis can even see everyone running towards the exit, away from the fire. But Louis takes a moment to put Niall's body on the floor, kneeling next to him. His hands fly to Niall’s pockets, he can grab his wallet and other things, he's got what he wants, now it's time to run away.

 

"Louis!" Zayn's voice sounds even louder in his ear than the last time, hurting him for a second. "Louis get your ass here, right now."

 

"What is wrong with you?" He screams back, not worrying about anyone hearing him now. He stands back up, and takes Niall in his arms, putting his weight on his shoulders, with half of Niall's body hanging off each side.

 

"We've got problems, damn it.” He can listen to the noise coming from Zayn's side, and he can tell something went wrong, something that they didn't planned. "Move the fuck along, Louis.”

 

"For fucks sakes!” Louis screams to no one and starts running downstairs.

 

Niall's body isn't really too heavy for him, he can do this, it's the fucking pressure of not knowing what went wrong that's killing him. This whole plan was perfect, he thought it through for weeks. Zayn was gonna keep an eye on everything while Louis went into the mansion, blended in with everyone until Zayn located Niall, then Louis would go to the nearest place depending on where Niall would be and start a fire to set the fire alarms off. That was going to be their first distraction, just to get everyone wondering what could be happening. Then, he would tell Zayn to count to five and set the bomb off, one they managed to sneak into one of the rooms downstairs, kinda far from the center of attraction, but near enough to start a bigger fire and with that, a bigger commotion to help him get away with Niall's body. Everyone around him would just think he is helping Niall because he got hurt during the fire. No one would question him or even look at him twice. 

And that's exactly what happened. His plan went perfectly.

 

So what the fuck went wrong with Zayn?

 

Niall's body bounces against Louis' shoulders as he runs against the sea of people running to the exit. Apart from everyone else who's escaping from the fire, he’s running towards it. Not really, though, he knows in what room the flames are coming from, and knows that the kitchen is far away from it. So he runs to the kitchen, casually bumping into some confused people, but not even bothering to look at them twice.

As he goes further down to the back part of the mansion, there's less people. Apparently, he is the only one that knows there is a second exit. But of course he is. No one else took the time to examine every corner of the house in case a situation like his occurred. 

 

He pushes the glass door open and finally, the clear air of the night hits him. Every smell of smoke disappears from his mind. Louis takes a moment to breathe and re-adjust Niall's body on his shoulder, when the black van appears in front of him.

 

"Get in!" He shouts at Louis, opening up the back door for him.

 

"What the fuck happened?" Louis screams, pushing Niall's body inside the van without too much care, and shutting the door. "What the fuck was that minutes ago?"

 

Louis gets in the van, his heart running like crazy. His hands are shaking and he can feel every drop of sweat on his body. He quickly takes off the suspenders and unbuttons his shirt, losing his ‘perfect’ look.

Zayn doesn't answer right away, just keeps driving away from all the mess, and while they do, Louis can see what they have done through the review mirror.

 

The elegant mansion is now caught on fire, at least a very large part of it. There’s people still running outside where police men and firefighters are trying to save as many people as they can. Everything is covered in ashes and smoke. 

 

This is his creation.

 

His thoughts of triumph are broken when muffles come from the back of the van.

 

"You have got to be kidding me," Louis murmurs, smacking his hand on the side of his seat. "I suffocate him with chloroform! He can't be up already.”

 

"It's not Niall," Zayn says, his eyes still fixed on the road.

 

Louis’ eyes travel to Zayn. This has to be some sort of fucking joke.

 

"Who is it, then?" He asks, his voice soft and calm, making him sound even more dangerous.

 

Zayn keeps driving, not even bothering to look back at Louis when he answers.

 

"Someone who got in the way,” he says.

 

 

 

-

 

_So this is what went wrong._

 

Sitting on the floor right in front of them, is a twenty-something year old man, with long curly hair falling gracefully into his face. His eyes are closed and his clothes are completely in rags. He looks hopeless. His fancy jacket is lost somewhere in the mansion, and his before white shirt is now partly black thanks to the ashes from the fire. His hands and feet are tied up, just because Louis hasn't decide what to do with him yet.

 

When Zayn told him back in the van that someone got in the way, he never thought that that someone, of all the people in bloody London, would be Harry Styles.

 

He almost fainted when he saw him again. It’s been years since he’s seen him. Harry was a huge part of his past, but he hasn’t even talked to him in years. So, seeing him now, under these circumstances, Louis doesn't know what to do with himself.

 

Normally, he and Zayn would kill whoever got in the way of them and their target, but due to lack of time, Zayn couldn't kill him, and now Louis isn't sure killing him is the right thing to do either.

 

"How the fuck did you end up here?" Louis mumbles, standing with his arms crossed over his chest, looking at Harry.

 

He needs to decide before Harry wakes up. He still needs to finish his thing with Niall. Louis and Zayn have to keep going with the original plan. They can't stop for nothing, much less stop for Harry. But how is he supposed to kill Harry?

 

How is he going to kill the person who gave him his last happy moment?

 

Harry hasn't changed a bit since he last saw him. Sure, he is much taller than Louis now, his hair is longer than he can remember, and he's got a hell of a body and a couple of tattoos. But apart from that, it's still the same Harry. His big messy curls are still there. That aura of calmness that surrounds him is still there, even when he's passed out.

 

Louis shakes his head. He can't do this any longer. He needs to get out of this room and get his head clear. He can't figure out what to do with Harry if he keeps looking at him. It’s always much easier to think about people as objects, because if he starts thinking about Harry like a human, like someone with feelings, he won't be able to kill him. And he has to, Harry has compromised the mission. 

 

So Louis shuts the door, stepping out of the room as he undoes his shirt, slowly walking to the living room where Zayn is. He still has the gun in his hand, lazily looking towards the room where Niall is hidden.

 

"I need to talk to you," Louis says, pointing at the gun. "Put it down, Zayn, he's still pass out, he's not going anywhere."

 

"And even he does, he doesn't have anyway to run to, I know," Zayn says, putting the gun down on the couch. "What do you want to talk about?"

 

"What the fuck happened back at the party?" He asks, and he doesn't sound angry, he really doesn't. They got what they want, they got away with it. Now he wants to know how the hell Harry ended up in the whole situation.

 

Zayn's looks at him for a couple seconds, surprised about Louis not yelling about how his " _big plan_ " got ruined, but he says nothing about it, and instead, he tells them what happened.

 

"He came running towards me," Zayn says, moving his hands around as he talks. "I was in the van, waiting for you, when he came running straight towards me. He was confused for a minute, thinking I was from security or some shit, and then he started freaking out, so I had to knock him out."

 

Louis nods, staring at the door to his left, where Harry is still tied up and unconscious inside. He knows Zayn, and knows that he could hit very hard. No wonder why Harry didn't wake up until several minutes later, when they were already out of the burning house.

He got lucky, that bastard could have been killed by Zayn, yet all he received was a punch.

 

"Why does it matter anyways?" Zayn gets up, leaving the gun behind. He shrugs his shoulder, as if nothing is that important. "We're gonna kill him anyways."

 

" _What?_ "

 

Louis snaps out, suddenly realizing Zayn doesn't know.  Zayn has no idea who that guy is, and he doesn't care neither. To him, Harry is nothing but another person they have to take out of the list, someone who got in the way.

 

"We are gonna kill him, aren't we?" He raises an eyebrow at the lack of answer from Louis. Zayn laughs, pointing at the closed door. "We have nothing to get from him, you aren't thinking of letting him live, are you?"

 

Louis doesn't answer. He doesn't fucking know.

 

"You aren't going to let him live, right?" Zayn pushes, still waiting for an answer. "For fucks sakes, Louis, you're thinking about letting him go, aren't you?"

 

"No! Of course not," Louis snaps, yelling at him. "I'm not stupid, damn it."

 

"Then what?" Zayn yells back, raising his arms to the ceiling. "What are you gonna do with him?"

 

"I don't fucking know, Zayn!" He screams, pointing at the door. "This has never happened to us before, our plans are always perfect. I don't know what the fuck to do."

 

Zayn was about to yell something at Louis, when he realized this whole thing wasn't about his plan being ruined, it was something more. This wasn't Louis. One of the reasons Louis was one of the most dangerous criminals along with Zayn, is because his mind is sharp like a knife. He never loses it over little things. He is always in control, even when they’ve been in some fucked up situations. Louis is always ready to act, to think, to get things going. 

 

This whole freaking out stuff wasn't the guy Zayn knew. This was about something else. And god, he has been with Louis for so long, that he knows the only thing that gets him like this is his past. Louis has talked with Zayn, very little about that time of his life. Louis doesn't like to talk much about it, and Zayn respects that. That's how they work together; they are there for each other, but don't push things too hard. 

 

But even with the little information he had about Louis' past, he knows this has something to do with it. Something about that curly haired man triggered Louis' memories.

 

"Listen, I'm gonna not fight over this with you," Zayn says, walking closer to Louis. "I know you. Something is up with that guy, right?"

 

Louis doesn't answer, he just stares at Zayn. And he gets it.

 

"Fine, you don't have to tell me right now," Zayn continues, dropping his arms to his side. "It's late and we had a very long day, so let's just... Let's cool things off, and you can give me an answer tomorrow.”

 

"I'm sorry," Louis brushes off, pushing his hair back. "I just need time to think, that's it."

 

"Just go to sleep already, Lou."

 

He can't help but laugh at Zayn. This is what they always do. Zayn is always the calm one, always helping Louis to keep it together. So he nods and softly shakes Zayn's hand before heading to his own room. His mind is still a mess, but at least he doesn't have to decide what to do with Harry for now. 

He will decide about killing him or letting him live tomorrow.


End file.
